Woe to the Complacent

Woe to you(A) who are complacent(B) in Zion,
    and to you who feel secure(C) on Mount Samaria,(D)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
    to whom the people of Israel come!(E)
Go to Kalneh(F) and look at it;
    go from there to great Hamath,(G)
    and then go down to Gath(H) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(I) your two kingdoms?
    Is their land larger than yours?
You put off the day of disaster
    and bring near a reign of terror.(J)
You lie on beds adorned with ivory
    and lounge on your couches.(K)
You dine on choice lambs
    and fattened calves.(L)
You strum away on your harps(M) like David
    and improvise on musical instruments.(N)
You drink wine(O) by the bowlful
    and use the finest lotions,
    but you do not grieve(P) over the ruin of Joseph.(Q)
Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(R)
    your feasting and lounging will end.(S)

The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(T)—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor(U) the pride of Jacob(V)
    and detest his fortresses;(W)
I will deliver up(X) the city
    and everything in it.(Y)

If ten(Z) people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[a](AA) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!(AB) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,
    and he will smash(AC) the great house(AD) into pieces
    and the small house into bits.(AE)

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea[b] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison(AF)
    and the fruit of righteousness(AG) into bitterness(AH)
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar[c]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim[d] by our own strength?(AI)

14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,
    “I will stir up a nation(AJ) against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
    from Lebo Hamath(AK) to the valley of the Arabah.(AL)

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(AM) He was preparing swarms of locusts(AN) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean,(AO) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?(AP) He is so small!(AQ)

So the Lord relented.(AR)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.(AS)

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;(AT) it dried up the great deep and devoured(AU) the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(AV)

So the Lord relented.(AW)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.(AX)

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[e] with a plumb line[f] in his hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(AY) Amos?(AZ)

“A plumb line,(BA)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(BB)

“The high places(BC) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries(BD) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(BE)

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel(BF) sent a message to Jeroboam(BG) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy(BH) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.(BI) 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,(BJ)
    away from their native land.’”(BK)

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!(BL) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.(BM) 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,(BN) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple(BO) of the kingdom.(BP)

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet(BQ) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.(BR) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(BS) and said to me, ‘Go,(BT) prophesy(BU) to my people Israel.’(BV) 16 Now then, hear(BW) the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against(BX) Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute(BY) in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan[g] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,(BZ)
    away from their native land.(CA)’”

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(CB) a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see,(CC) Amos?(CD)” he asked.

“A basket(CE) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(CF)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[h](CG) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(CH)

Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(CI) of the land,(CJ)

saying,

“When will the New Moon(CK) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market(CL) wheat?”(CM)
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating(CN) with dishonest scales,(CO)
buying the poor(CP) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(CQ)

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(CR) “I will never forget(CS) anything they have done.(CT)

“Will not the land tremble(CU) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.(CV)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.(CW)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(CX) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.(CY)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(CZ)
    and shave(DA) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(DB)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.(DC)

11 “The days are coming,”(DD) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine(DE) of hearing the words of the Lord.(DF)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.(DG)

13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men(DH)
    will faint because of thirst.(DI)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(DJ)
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(DK)
    or, ‘As surely as the god[i] of Beersheba(DL) lives’—
    they will fall,(DM) never to rise again.(DN)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
  2. Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
  3. Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
  4. Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.
  5. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  6. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
  7. Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
  8. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  9. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way

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